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About BDS Italia
BDS Italia is a movement supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel's occupation and system of apartheid until Israel respects international law and human rights, comprised of associations and groups throughout Italy that endorse the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society. The BDS movement supports equal rights for all and is therefore opposed to all forms of racism, fascism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ethnic and religious discrimination.
Although most of the content of our web site is in Italian, this section contains articles, press releases and action items in English.
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As Palestinians continue to resist the increasingly oppressive policies of colonization, military occupation, and apartheid by the most right-wing and racist government in Israel's history, effective solidarity with their struggle for freedom, justice, and equality continues to grow.
More than 300 businesses, cultural and sports associations, trade unions, and movements throughout Italy have declared themselves Israeli Apartheid Free Zones and pledged to fight all forms of racism and discrimination.
It is a concrete response to Israel's massacres, siege and land theft against the Palestinian people that have intensified in recent months. Since just the beginning of this year, apartheid Israel has killed at least 158 Palestinians, including many children. During its recent attack against Jenin, Israel killed twelve Palestinians, including four children, and injured 143 others. Hundreds of houses, roads, water and sewage networks were destroyed or damaged, and some 3,000 Palestinians were displaced during the assault.
Leggi: More Than 300 Israeli Apartheid Free Zones Across Italy
Virginio Merola, Mayor of Bologna, and Leoluca Orlando, Mayor of Palermo, have withdrawn from an international mayors summit aimed at shielding Israel from criticism over its violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.
The meeting, to be held on Tuesday, 16 March, claims to contribute to "eradicate prejudice and hatred from our cities." Instead, as 14 Jewish organizations from around the world wrote in an open letter, the summit aims to promote the fraudulent and widely criticized International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “definition” of antisemitism. Seven out of eleven of the IHRA definition’s examples falsely equate criticism of Israel with anti-Jewish hatred.
Jewish organizations, including Jewish Voice for Peace, with over 70 branches in the United States, have called on mayors not to participate and instead to "join the collective struggle against racism, antisemitism, and Islamophobia."
The Jewish organizations note that the definition promoted by the IHRA is being used “to shut down local initiatives by many communities that are resolutely opposed to Israel’s human rights violations," and that, just as any other country, "Israel’s actions can and must be criticized." Increasingly, the IHRA definition is being used in an attempt to stop the growing Palestinian-led nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a key sponsor of the summit.
Leggi: The Mayors of Bologna and Palermo Withdraw From a Summit Aimed at Shielding Israel From...
On July 30, the Emilia Romagna Regional Council approved by a large majority a resolution calling on the Italian Government and the European Union to express their opposition to the Trump Plan and Israel’s annexation of occupied Palestinian territory in all forums, to intervene politically and diplomatically to prevent further international law and human rights violations, and to take concrete measures to sanction such violations.
This resolution follow a similar motion approved on July 13 by the Turin City Council, which also called for concrete measures against the Israel’s annexation plans and international law violations, including ending military trade. A coalition of Turin's civil society organizations, including the Centro Studi Sereno Regis, the Frantz Fanon Association and the local section of the FIOM trade union, had called on the city council to "take concrete and courageous measures in favor of international legality."
As Italy and most of the world face a health crisis that brings suffering, anxiety and insecurity, solidarity actions have anything but stopped.
The growing number of acts of concrete solidarity, especially toward those already living with insecurity, suffering and oppression, come from an awareness that it will be the most vulnerable among us to be hit hardest by this pandemic. In the Gaza Strip, for example, 13 years of Israeli siege and multiple bombings have devastated the health infrastructure.
It is this sense of commonality and solidarity that has led to another important milestone for the network of Israeli Apartheid Free Zones (AFZ) in Italy. There are now more than 200 commercial activities, cultural and sports centers, and associations throughout Italy that have declared themselves free of Israeli apartheid.
On November 9, Palestinian rights supporters from BDS Bologna met Olympic medalist Fiona May following her theatrical debut as co-star in "New York Marathon."
May is a member of the Supervisory Board for sportswear manufacturer Puma.
Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA), which, as documented by the international organization Human Rights Watch, includes football teams based in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Israeli settlements constitute a war crime under international law.
During the brief meeting, the activists thanked Fiona May for her long history of speaking out against all forms of racism and raised PUMA’s unacceptable role in supporting Israel’s military occupation via its sponsorship of the IFA.
The activists delivered the call from over 200 Palestinian sports teams urging PUMA to end its support for illegal Israeli settlements by terminating the IFA sponsorship agreement and the touching article by Aya Khattab, player for the Palestinian Women's National Football Team.
150 commercial, cultural and sporting activities in Italy have declared themselves free of Israeli apartheid
The Italian network of Apartheid Free Zones (Spazi Liberi dall’Apartheid Israeliana - SPLAI) continues to grow. SPLAI now includes 150 associations, trade unions, movements, artisans, commercial activities and cultural and sports centers that have taken a stand for human rights and against all forms of discrimination, in solidarity with Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality [List of endorsers].
Members of the SPLAI network refuse ties with institutions and companies involved in violations of international law and that support Israel’s policies that discriminate against Palestinians and deny their basic human rights.
Launched in June this year, the SPLAI network has grown by 50 percent in just a few months, reflecting a determination not to remain silent in the face of injustice, oppression, violence and racism, wherever it occurs.
The Apartheid Free Zone campaign is already present in several countries, including Belgium, Norway and the Spanish State, with more than three hundred endorsers, including dozens of local administrations.
Volere la Luna, a laboratory of political culture and good practices founded by retired magistrate Livio Pepino, historian Marco Revelli, among others, commented:
"Volere la Luna endorses SPLAI because we strongly believe in the boycott of complicit Israeli institutions as a means for nonviolent struggle for the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people."
The Askavusa collective of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa where migrant boats often land, said:
"As Askavusa Lampedusa, we join the SPLAI campaign. No one should be deprived of their freedom of movement, no one should be blocked at a border. We support the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their land. Israel’s apartheid wall must fall."
The ARCI social center Thomas Sankara of Messina stated:
"For 19 years, our anti-racist practices have been bound together with solidarity with the Palestinian people. We have sought to tell the story of Palestine, through the voice of the Palestinian refugees but also that of Israeli dissidents. We join the SPLAI campaign because the boycott is the only weapon we will hold against the genocide taking place in Palestine."
In a video supporting the campaign, Jewish playwright Moni Ovadia said:
"It is time to make the voice of the righteous heard on the question of Palestinian, neglected in a vile and hypocritical way by the entire international community."
The Apartheid Free Zone campaign is part of the international movement for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid. Established in 2005 by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, the BDS movement practices nonviolent resistance to end Israel’s policies of occupation, colonization and apartheid.
The BDS movement is supported by trade unions, movements, churches and NGOs around the world as well as artists and intellectuals, including Ken Loach, Roger Waters and South African archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu.
Inspired by the historic struggle for the abolition of apartheid in South Africa, the BDS movement is based on respect for international law and the protection of universal human rights, and supports equal rights for all. The BDS movements strongly opposes all forms of racism, fascism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ethnic and religious discrimination.
For more information: bdsitalia.org/splai
BDS Italy
The stark irony of Israeli government sponsorship of the “Love Sharing - Festival of Theater and Non-Violent Culture,” which just concluded in Cagliari, Italy, led to defections last week.
Last week, the Sardinia-Palestine Friendship Association condemned the sponsorship of the Cultural Office of the Israeli embassy in Italy, asking how it was possible to "reconcile the violence perpetrated by Israel’s military occupation against the Palestinian people with a culture of non-violence."
The Sardinia-Palestine Friendship Association recalled Israel’s decades-long violent policies, including ethnic cleansing of indigenous Palestinians from their land, repeated UN-documented war crimes, torture of Palestinian political prisoners, including children, and widespread demolition of Palestinian houses.
Senegalese business-owner Mouhamed Dieng, who was to speak during the "Families and Communities" panel scheduled for 25 October, disassociated himself from the festival. In a post on his Facebook profile, Dieng stated:
"It is necessary to unmask every form of propaganda that has the purpose of ‘normalizing’ the conduct of the state of Israel aimed at making it appear as if it were peace-seeking, open to dialogue and promoting non-violence initiatives. In reality it is well-documented that for several decades Israeli actions are the complete opposite with regards to the Palestinian people."
Leggi: Israeli Sponsorship Prompts Defections from Love Sharing Festival in Cagliari, Italy
Tuscan city of San Giuliano Terme also endorses Palestinian-led boycott, disinvestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights
On Monday, the City Council of Bologna, Italy’s seventh largest city, approved a motion in support of concrete action to hold Israel accountable for violations of the rights of the Palestinian people, as stipulated in international law. The motion urges the Italian government and European institutions to "commit to suspending supplies of weapons and military equipment as called for by Amnesty International." The motion passed by a wide margin, with 23 votes in favor and six abstentions.
The motion recalled the over one hundred Palestinians killed and 10,000 wounded in recent weeks by Israel’s "harsh repression" of "peaceful protests" by tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza against Israel’s occupation and illegal blockade of Gaza and for the UN-sanctioned right of return of Palestinian refugees.
The Council also recalled the transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, despite the UN General Assembly resolution against the decision approved by a wide majority, including Italy.
The motion noted how the decision of the organizers of the Giro d'Italia to start the cycling race from Israel provoked "a wave of indignation" and "had, in fact, contributed to supporting the position of said country, backed by the US, which claims Jerusalem as its unified capital in violation of international law."
The councilors called on the international community to work "to compel Israel to assume its responsibilities as the occupying force."
Italy is a major supplier of weapons to Israel and maintains strong military research and intelligence activities with it. According to the Italian Disarmament Network, in 2014, Italy was the EU's leading arms exporter to Israel. Collaboration between the Italian and Israeli war industries continues to grow, with "technology transfers", training, joint exercises and maneuvers, conducted on Italian soil and in areas under Israeli control. Italian law 185 of 1990 prohibits the sale of arms to countries in a state of armed conflict or to countries "whose governments are responsible for documented violations of international conventions on human rights."
With Bologna, three Italian city councils have so far called for a military embargo against Israel.
A few days ago the City Council of San Giuliano Terme (Pisa) approved a motion calling on the Italian parliament to "end all military relations, sales and trade of war material with the state of Israel" and endorsed the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) for Palestinian rights.
Last year the City Council of Florence unanimously approved a motion calling on the Italian government and the European Union “to end all forms of technical and economic cooperation connected, directly or indirectly, with the Israeli military” and with illegal Israeli settlements.
The motions approved by Italian city councils come amid similar measures called for internationally in recent weeks as an effective means to hold Israel accountable to international law standards. The Spanish party Podemos called for a military embargo against Israel, while Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the British Labor party, has reaffirmed his party's commitment to review arms sales to Israel. In Ireland, the Dublin City Council approved a motion endorsing the BDS movement.
BDS Italy congratulates the City Councils of Bologna, San Giuliano Terme and Firenze for their commitment to enforcing respect for international law and human rights. In particular, their calls for concrete action, such as a military embargo against Israel, are necessary more than ever, considering the total contempt on the part of Israel for Palestinian lives and its utter disregard of international law.
We call on all Italian local administrations to follow the example of the city councils of Bologna, San Giuliano Terme and Florence, approving similar motions calling for effective and concrete measures to ensure respect for human rights, international and Italian law. This is not simply about solidarity; it is about Italy meeting its legal obligations to cease aiding and abetting Israel’s war crimes and serious human rights violations.
BDS Italy
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BDS Italia is a movement supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel's occupation and system of apartheid until Israel respects international law and human rights, comprised of associations and groups throughout Italy that endorse the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society. The BDS movement supports equal rights for all and is therefore opposed to all forms of racism, fascism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ethnic and religious discrimination.
On November 25-26, cities throughout Italy held two-wheel demonstrations against the Giro d'Italia's decision to hold the 2018 race start in Israel. It was one of the first stages in Italy of the international #RelocateTheRace campaign urging race organizers RCS MediaGroup to move the Big Start from Israel and refrain from helping Israel whitewash its violations of Palestinians’ human rights.
The bike rallies were organized ahead of the official 2018 Giro d’Italia presentation, to be held in Milan on November 29, coinciding with the United Nation’s International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Just last week, 120 human rights groups from around the world launched an international call to move the Giro d'Italia from Israel.
In Rome, cyclists responded to the call in large numbers, with Piazza del Popolo (People’s Square) invaded by a hundred bikes. The cyclists navigated an obstacle course, pedaling through mock checkpoints, walls and settlements, symbols of Israel’s denial of Palestinians’ right to movement. A banner at the arrival announced the finish line: Free Palestine.
From the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, a group of cyclists biked to Ponte a Ema, home of the Cycling Museum Gino Bartali, to contest the manipulation of the memory of the famed cyclist, who will be honored by Giro 2018. Bartali "always stood with the oppressed." A huge Palestinian flag was hung in front of the museum.
The Red Card campaign calling for Israel's suspension from FIFA continues as the BDS movement gains strength
The distribution of thousands of leaflets and red cards at the Mapei stadium in the Italian city of Reggio before the Italy-Israel match on September 5 capped off a series of initiatives organized by local and national groups and associations to raise awareness on Israel’s violations of human rights and international law, which affect basic rights such as participating in sports.
Leggi: Photos, Videos: Italy-Israel match, Red Card Israel in support of Palestinian rights